A printed circuit board (PCB) connector (e.g. a receptacle) may be directly soldered (also known as surface mounting) to a surface of the PCB to provide a connectable interface between the PCB and another device with an opposing mating connector (e.g. a plug).
A surface mount receptacle typically includes a housing with a mating face for mating with an opposing mating plug and a board-mounting end from which a plurality of terminals exit the housing for termination to circuit traces on the PCB. The surface mount receptacle may further include a plurality of mounting posts at the base of the housing for the purpose of aiding the alignment of the surface mount receptacle to the PCB during mounting.
The terminals normally include mating portions for mating with the terminals of the opposing mating plug and tail portions (or ‘solder tails’) projecting from the housing for interconnection, as by soldering, to circuit traces on the PCB or in holes in the PCB into which the tails are inserted. The solder tails when soldered to the PCB often become the only points of attachment and the only means of securing the surface mount receptacle onto the PCB other than the mounting posts.
A common practice to connect cables to a PCB is by terminating the cables at a plug connector (jointly referred to as cable assembly) and then mating the plug connector to a surface mount receptacle on the PCB. The plug connector typically includes a printed circuit card that has a projecting edge that is received within a mating slot in the surface mount receptacle.
High speed data transfer systems require electrical connectors in which the electrical impedance can be controlled in order to maintain the required data transfer rate of the electrical system. Shielding cages are typically utilised with such connectors to control the emission of electromagnetic interference. These cages often serve as a secondary housing for the connector in that they will substantially enclose the connectors. U.S. Publ No. 2006/0040556 discloses one such shield housing.
With the miniaturisation of electronic equipment, small-sized surface mount receptacles with very fine solder tails are desired because the footprint allocated for each internal component is reduced to accommodate the limited internal space within the electronic equipment. U.S. Publ. No. 2006/0009080 and U.S. Publ No. 2006/0014438 disclose one such surface mount receptacle.
The small size of the surface mount receptacle makes it difficult to guide the opposing mating plug into mating with the surface mount receptacle as well as increases the difficulty of ensuring the opposing mating plug mates properly with the surface mount receptacle, especially in a blind mating application.
Because the solder contacts at the solder tails are the only means of attachment between the surface mount receptacle and the PCB other than the mounting posts, any failed attempt in aligning and mating the opposing mating plug to the surface mount receptacle can cause mechanical stress at these points of attachment causing the solder contacts to loosen and ultimately breaking signal pathways and causing connection to the PCB to fail. In addition, the repeated unsuccessful engagement of the opposing mating plug with the surface mount receptacle together with the cable's weight and movement can cause the surface mount receptacle to lift off the PCB, further stressing and breaking the points of attachment.
The present invention is directed at preventing the breakage of signal pathways due to the lifting of the surface mount receptacle by providing an improved structure for anchoring and holding the receptacle to a PCB without substantially increasing the footprint required to mount the receptacle.